1. Field of Invention
The present invention refers to an apparatus for thermal decomposition (dissociation) of any kind of organic material (biomasses, sludges, organic lees, cakes, brans, dry vinasse, composts, animal excrements, unusable tires, polymers in general, peat, etc.) to obtain commercial products such as oils (with fatty fractions, diesel, aromatics, limonene, tars, etc.) and coals (of the vegetable, lignite, bituminous, carbon black—NFR type, etc). The apparatus of this invention also enables the destruction of products and soils contaminated with oils, organochlorinated hydrocarbons and dioxins.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese patent JP 56115386 dating from 1981 describes apparatus for carbonizing old tires to generate heat. This is carried out by burning the gas generated to obtain coal without worrying about the recovery of the carbon black contained in the raw material. In other words, this apparatus does not allow the use of the reaction products which are the coals, recovered carbon black obtained when the raw material is tires, and oil. In the Japanese patent JP56115386, the tire is heated by direct contact of the combustion gas with the material to be processed, by way of the holes 5. In point of fact, the apparatus described in this Japanese patent is a simple gasifier with three concentric vessels.
The present patent application describes an apparatus which allows the use of the reaction products, which are the coals (recovered carbon black obtained when the raw material is tires) and the oil. The constructive concepts of the Japanese patent JP 56115386 and of the present patent application are entirely different. Heating the tires (or any other raw material) in the present invention is performed indirectly by tri-tube technology (three concentric tubes). The raw material is placed in the space between the intermediary tube of the tri-tube and outer tube of the tri-tube and the heating gas passes through the area between the intermediary tube of the tri-tube and the inner tube of the tri-tube and also through the outer region of the tri-tube. The present invention is a hermetic apparatus which reproduces the geological formation conditions of coal, petroil and gases in the subsoil (as per Ernest Bayer), its fractionings, streamlined loading, unloading, low consumption of energy, investment cost, operational and processing of any kind of organic material including whole tires.
British patent GB 362.522 dating from 1931 describes a machine that is operated on a batch regime for “carbonization at average temperature” in the range of 590° C. to 700° C. Above 500° C. the processes are pyrolytic (gasifications) and below 500° C. are low temperature conversions (cracking+synthesis). It is noted that the range of usual operation of the present invention is between 380° C. and 420° C. It is noted that below 380° C. the reaction is very slow and not economically viable and above 420° C. there begins the thermal decomposition of most of the oil generated by the process. Still regarding the British patent, it is important to note that once the reaction is over, there is a major difficulty in unloading the coke produced, because it adheres to the reactor walls. The following two measures are designed to overcome this problem:
a) the volume of the coking chamber is increased by movement of the hollow walls 2 which are articulated at one of its ends (FIG. 1). The product is disposed between pairs of boards and the heating is carried out in the space between the pairs of boards;
b) the machine has a device to push the coke which is added when the hollow walls are moved and at the same time the articulated doors in the lower part of the coking chamber are opened to allow coke unloading.
The present invention solves the problem of coal unloading in a simple and different manner: once the reaction is over, the reactor closing lid, which is mounted on a cart on rails, travels whereby releasing the reactor, the entire equipment is titled around its horizontal axis (which passes through the center of gravity of the apparatus) describing an angle of about 180 degrees. The feed mouth of the tri-tube, which in the feeding and reaction steps faces upwards, on unloading faces downwards and becomes an unloading mouth. So the main differences between this patent and the present invention are:
1) patent GB 362.522 has upper loading and lower unloading. The present invention has merely an upper tilting lid for unloading, viewing maximum possible hermeticity;
2) patent GB 362.522 is not hermetic. The present invention is hermetic;
3) patent GB 362.522 only applies to the production of coke from coal mineral. The present invention applies to various raw materials which produce different types of oils and coals;
4) the machine of patent GB 362.522 is for sequential loading and unloading (almost continuous). That of the present invention is by batch.
Japanese patent JP 10279950 dating from 1998 describes equipment for carbonizing old tires, waste vinyls, wood shavings, etc. The equipment has a vertical construction and is comprised of an outer oven and an inner over concentric to the former. The inner oven has an upper protrusion in relation to the outer oven. The constructive concepts of the Japanese patent JP 10279950 and of the present invention are entirely different. The problem of feeding the raw material and unloading of products in the Japanese patent is solved by bins introduced via the upper flange, which is installed on the protruding part of the inner tube. In the present invention there is no bin and the unloading is by tilting. The bin of patent JP 10279950 is divided into three parts: lower B1, intermediary B2 and upper B3. The lower part is closed to prevent the escape of coal and the upper and intermediary parts have holes which allow the product to be unloaded.
In the present invention, the problem of unloading the product is solved by the equipment's tilting system. Once the reaction is over, the reactor closing lid which is mounted on a cart on rails travels whereby releasing the reactor, the whole equipment is tilted around its horizontal axis (which passes through the center of gravity of the apparatus) describing an angle of about 180 degrees. The feed mouth of the tri-tube, which in the feeding and reaction steps faces upwards, on unloading faces downwards and becomes an unloading mouth. A major problem of the equipment of the Japanese patent is having a single tube which if applied to industrial quantities implies large diameters. The carbonized material in the outer wall of the inner tube acts as thermal insulation for the material situated in the central part, requiring several hours and even days to finish the process, the apparatus thus being of little use for any industrial application. The apparatus of the present invention, besides various additional characteristics, solved the issue of processing time by way of the tri-tubes with internal and external heating of the raw material situated in the annular part, which results in small material width and processing times of around 3 hours, thus allowing industrial capacity to be achieved. It should be noted that the present invention also comprises the possibility that gases used in the reaction may be at different temperatures in an alternative embodiment of the invention.
British patent GB 330.980 dating from 1929 describes equipment for carbonizing coal mineral, peat, wood, etc. The constructive concepts of the British patent GB 330,980 and of the present patent are entirely different, starting with the operating principle which is continuous in the first and by batch in the second. British patent GB 330,980 describes an apparatus comprised of various vertical stationary containers (retorts) mounted according to a carrousel-type toroidal symmetry. Around this retorts carrousel is a bell with an annular profile forming a tunnel which covers the retorts carrousel. This tunnel is mounted on rollers and rails, has periodic circular movement and is insulated by a sand bath. The tunnel has loading, heating and cooling regions. Accordingly there is established the continuous operation of the equipment. Each retort also has an upper port for loading and a lower port for unloading the coal into a bin and each set of three retorts has a stationary piping for the outflow of vapors (subproducts). Through this collector piping, there are withdrawn the vapors generated in the process which are conveyed to a distillation plant. There is nothing in the British patent that resembles the figure of the tri-tube which is the main characteristic of the equipment of the present invention, the arrangement of which is cylindrical, vertical and completely different mechanical elements and processes. The lack of hermeticity and the temperature of the reaction mean that the end product of the British patent is completely different to that of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,040 dating from 1992 is a process patent. It describes the use of conventional equipment (tire shredders, shaking screens, electro-magnets, storage hoppers, rotary ovens, burners, temperature controllers, condensation tower with content, oil tanks and chimney) for the thermal processing of old tires, in an environment free of atmospheric air, but non-hermetic. The process sequence is as follows: a) tire shredding; b) sorting the fine pieces sized between 1.27 cm (½″) to 1.9 cm (¾″) and discarding of coarse material including metal; c) silo tampon of raw material (small pieces); d) carbonization in rotary oven in the absence of atmospheric air; and) recovery of the solid product (porous coal); f) condensation of vapors generating oil and g) burning or chimney disposal of the non-condensable gases. In the North American patent there is no mention of the characteristics and applications of the solid product (porous coal). In the present invention, processing biomass containing lipids, proteins and lignocellulosics produces coal and processing tires produces recovered carbon black (NFR). The chemical composition and the applications of the oil is also not cited, but rather their physical properties 41.8 MJ/kg (18,000 BTU/pound), specific gravity of 0.90, pour point of −7° C. and boiling point of 112° C. (oil # 4). The non-condensable gases are conveyed to the chimney or are burnt in one or more burners. The main process step is the carbonization of rubber which is carried out in a rotary oven comprised of a stainless steel tube having the following dimensions: diameter=609 mm, length=6.300 mm and width of the stainless steel sheeting of 11.1 mm. The tube presents raising wings and material drag and slanting in the range of 5 to 10 degrees, the feeder mouth being higher than the unloading mouth for outflow of the material in process and to hinder the entry of air into the over. The rotation is slow in the order of 3 rpm. The residence time of the material processed in the rotary oven is 7 to 8 minutes resulting in an estimated production of 2 to 3 t/h due to the low rate of filling the rotary ovens. The rotary oven is surrounded by a thermally insulated box where there are installed burners directed towards the lower part of the rotary tube. Temperature sensors are installed in the body of the tube to keep the temperature at the desired conditions which are: entry of the rubber: 480° C. to 540° C., region central: 480° C. and coal outflow: 425° C. to 440° C. The smoke 34 leaves the reactor in the temperature range of between 160° C. and 190° C. and the condensation tower operates in the range of 60° C. to 70° C. The estimated heating rate is 125° C./min falling in the inert rapid pyrolysis rate. U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,040 highlights that the use of a rotary oven with smooth walls, instead of systems of belts or propeller conveyors, avoids locking problems due to the adhesive characteristic of the material processed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,040, therefore, has no characteristic resembling the present invention. The present invention describes new equipment and consequently a new process, which is not pyrolysis, because it is below 500° C. and in an inert atmosphere (totally free of O2), from whence the name low temperature conversion. In the process used by the present invention there occurs cracking and synthesis simultaneously permitted by the residence time of 60 to 90 minutes and, accordingly, results in maximization (increase in quantity) and improved quality of the oils. The main equipment needed to develop the process described in the North American patent is a conventional rotary oven which is a machine having constructive characteristics entirely different from the heat exchange-type reactor with tri-tube beams defined in the present invention. Operations of the rotary oven are continuous and the reactor of the present invention is by batch.
JP-A-58013693 describes the equipments and apparatus of a tire pvrolyzer formed by three concentric tubes receiving the heating gas from the burning of gaseous fuels in a furnace located at the bottom of the equipment. In this device, the heating gas flow firstly enters upwardly in the 1st inner tube, then passes downwardly through the space between the 2nd inner tube and the 1st inner tube. In this step, it occurs part of the heat transfer. At last, the heating gas flow passes upwardly between the outer tube and thermal insulation wherein the remainder of the heat exchange occurs. Steams and gases are extracted through pipe 17 to be condensed in tower 31. In this document, there is no mention to how the coal is unloaded. However, the technology disclosed in this prior art document (JP-A-58013693) it is not capable of performing the thermal cycling (steps of heating, converting and cooling) which allows the production of 3 to 4 batches per day.
W02005/121278 refers to a process which discloses the equipments and apparatus of a depolymerizer of used tires that is characterized by a thermally insulated vessel wherein the fed tire inside the same is submitted to the pyrolysis process through direct contact among the heating combustion gas as well as the heating medium that is calcium oxide. The steams and gases go to a condensate column and non condensable gases are burned in a hot gas generator. Coal or tire is depolymerized along with the heating medium by tilting. The disclosed reactor transfers heat directly to the reaction medium in an oxidative process, and is not capable of indirectly transferring heat to the tire in a reducing process.
GB 233.335 discloses the equipments and apparatus for carbonization and distillation of wood that is characterized by being a retort wood pyrolyzer. The pyrolyzer has a thermally insulated metal box supported by two bearings having a further vessel inside the same, wherein wood is located. The heating means of this equipment is the combustion gas and the pyrolysis gas itself that returns in the process (retort) transferring heat directly to the wood through the existing holes in the inner vessel. No steams or oils are generated in the process. The coal formed is unloaded by tilting of the insulated metal box.